Weather/LSL

[SharonLPK]

Hi all,

Was just wondering what affect, if any, freezing rain/icy conditions could have on tonight's LakeShore Limited. Seems Albany and Boston are both eligible to get that type of weather later on...

I assume that trains plow through snow, but what if icy rails?

 

[the_traveler]

The train may go a little slower, but it still should go. I'd be more concerned with being in a car or walking to/from the station on icy roads or sidewalks than with being on icy rails!

 

[profwebs]

Depending on the severity of the storm, the extra weight of the ice on tree limbs and power lines could bring down the lines. No electric = no signals, but it takes a pretty bad ice storm to do that.

 

[SharonLPK]

I was so happy to see that this train has been running on time recently, of course tonight is the night I'll be on it lol

 

[Rail Freak]

I was so happy to see that this train has been running on time recently, of course tonight is the night I'll be on it lol

HAVE FUN!!!!

RF

 

[Amtrak839]

I doubt ice will slow down the LSL (unless it knocks out the signals). I went through an ice storm in the Carolinas on the Auto Train a couple of years ago, and we never even slowed down. I think we may even have been a little early into Lorton.

 

[spacecadet]

The only problem I've ever had with ice storms on any long distance train was the accumulation of ice in vestibules and between cars. It can be really treacherous going between cars sometimes, not to mention just plain unpleasant.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

If it gets too cold the cars can freeze up which means the doors won't work, the water stops moving, and the train has to be de-iced.

 

[sky12065]

Hi all,
Was just wondering what affect, if any, freezing rain/icy conditions could have on tonight's LakeShore Limited. Seems Albany and Boston are both eligible to get that type of weather later on...

I assume that trains plow through snow, but what if icy rails?

An online check as of the time of this posting indicated that the LSL departed ALB 10 minutes late!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

if bad signals the train will go slow until it gets 2 good ones. that happened on the wolverine on the NS line. we hit a series of flashing red signals so we couldn't go faster then 15MPH until we had 2 greens back to back.put us 53 minutes behind. if its a dark signal then the train has to stop and ask for permission to pass it.

 

[battalion51]

Of all the modes of transportation out there, trains are usually the least effected by poor weather. Downed trees/power lines, or insanely high snow banks (at least 7 or 8 feet) are about the only thing that can slow a train down.

 

[SharonLPK]

Thanks for this information, and it's been very interesting

The train seems to be pretty much on time, yay!

 

[sky12065]

I just did another check of the OTP of the LSL and could someone explain why the two parts of the same train would have such a large discrepencies on the estimated arrival times? I've heard of a stretch limo but not a stretch train! :huh: :lol:

Departing: Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) and Arriving: Chicago - Union Station, IL (CHI)

EstimateStatus

449 Lake Shore Limited Departs Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) 7:05 pm

11-DEC-08 7:15 pm - 11-DEC-08 Departed: 10 minutes late.

Arrives Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI) 9:45 am

12-DEC-08 Estimated Arrival Time: 1 hour and 12 minutes late. (10:57 am)

49 Lake Shore Limited Departs Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) 7:05 pm

11-DEC-08 7:15 pm - 11-DEC-08 Departed: 10 minutes late.

Arrives Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI) 9:45 am

12-DEC-08 Estimated Arrival Time: 15 minutes late. (10:00 am)

 

[Rafi]

I just did another check of the OTP of the LSL and could someone explain why the two parts of the same train would have such a large discrepencies on the estimated arrival times? I've heard of a stretch limo but not a stretch train! :huh: :lol:

Departing: Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) and Arriving: Chicago - Union Station, IL (CHI)

EstimateStatus

449 Lake Shore Limited Departs Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) 7:05 pm

11-DEC-08 7:15 pm - 11-DEC-08 Departed: 10 minutes late.

Arrives Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI) 9:45 am

12-DEC-08 Estimated Arrival Time: 1 hour and 12 minutes late. (10:57 am)

49 Lake Shore Limited Departs Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) 7:05 pm

11-DEC-08 7:15 pm - 11-DEC-08 Departed: 10 minutes late.

Arrives Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI) 9:45 am

12-DEC-08 Estimated Arrival Time: 15 minutes late. (10:00 am)

I might be wrong on this, but my guess is that the 449 status is being calculated based on 449's arrival time into Albany and not from subsequent stops after Albany. In other words, I think 49's status is the only status logged west of Albany. Of course Amtrak should probably have a script in the status engine that tells the engine "for 449's status west of Albany, substitute 49's status." Of course Amtrak isn't fast to react on these things.

-Rafi

 

[AudenHoggart]

I just did another check of the OTP of the LSL and could someone explain why the two parts of the same train would have such a large discrepencies on the estimated arrival times? I've heard of a stretch limo but not a stretch train! :huh: :lol:

Departing: Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) and Arriving: Chicago - Union Station, IL (CHI)

EstimateStatus

449 Lake Shore Limited Departs Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) 7:05 pm

11-DEC-08 7:15 pm - 11-DEC-08 Departed: 10 minutes late.

Arrives Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI) 9:45 am

12-DEC-08 Estimated Arrival Time: 1 hour and 12 minutes late. (10:57 am)

49 Lake Shore Limited Departs Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) 7:05 pm

11-DEC-08 7:15 pm - 11-DEC-08 Departed: 10 minutes late.

Arrives Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI) 9:45 am

12-DEC-08 Estimated Arrival Time: 15 minutes late. (10:00 am)

I might be wrong on this, but my guess is that the 449 status is being calculated based on 449's arrival time into Albany and not from subsequent stops after Albany. In other words, I think 49's status is the only status logged west of Albany. Of course Amtrak should probably have a script in the status engine that tells the engine "for 449's status west of Albany, substitute 49's status." Of course Amtrak isn't fast to react on these things.

-Rafi

This occurs very frequently for the Texsa Eagle. The TE has three different versions, beginning (north and eastbound) in Los Angeles, San Antonio, and St. Louis.) It's common to show different arrival times in Chicago even though it's a single train.

 

[adkkev]

It is a big mess in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area ... power outages everywhere, trees down, roads closed, and several areas have been declared to be in states of emergency. Fifteen miles west of the Schenectady area (Amsterdam) it's mainly snow, with lesser amounts of ice.

Amtrak station is closed: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=749813

 

[HP_Lovecraft]

Could not take the Downeaster into work today. It is shutdown indefinetly.

So while driving, I pass many grade crossings, and you can see the tracks are covered with trees for miles and miles.

Not sure if those can just be pushed off the tracks with the plow, or if it needs to be manually lifted to also check for track damage?

 

[AlanB]

Could not take the Downeaster into work today. It is shutdown indefinetly.

Ouch!

So while driving, I pass many grade crossings, and you can see the tracks are covered with trees for miles and miles.
Not sure if those can just be pushed off the tracks with the plow, or if it needs to be manually lifted to also check for track damage?

I doubt very much that they'd just push them off the tracks with a plow. First, you could derail and or damage the plow. Additionally the engine might actually not be powerful enough to do it.

Second, you could make any damage worse by doing so, or if no damage was caused you could easily start causing some by pushing the trees off.

They'll have to be cut up and moved piece by piece.

I thought that the ice was supposed to be mainly inland. I didn't think that the coast was supposed to be in the line of fire.

 

[battalion51]

Alan is indeed correct. If you were to try to plow a tree with an engine the only thing you'd be plowing is the train down an embankment.

 

[HP_Lovecraft]

Alan is indeed correct. If you were to try to plow a tree with an engine the only thing you'd be plowing is the train down an embankment.

Sorry, I didn't mean the P42. I thought that Guilford might have a specialized plow like below.

They could just fly down the tracks blasting the trees apart?

OK, OK... I obviously didn't think this one through.....

Just noticed, apart from the Downeaster, and LSL. They are also showing cancellations for the Maple Leaf, and Empire Service.

More cancellations

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

I assume that Amtrak depends upon the host railroads cleaning/clearing things up...

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

If passengers on the LSL who are affected by this cancelation want to rebook on the Capitol Limited, do they potentially have to pay an additional amount if the current bucket on the Capitol Limited + Northeast Regional is higher than the amount they paid for their LSL tickets? (I'm wondering if this is a case where Amtrak will argue that it's an Act of God and therefore not their problem to get passengers to their destination.)

 

[AlanB]

If passengers on the LSL who are affected by this cancelation want to rebook on the Capitol Limited, do they potentially have to pay an additional amount if the current bucket on the Capitol Limited + Northeast Regional is higher than the amount they paid for their LSL tickets? (I'm wondering if this is a case where Amtrak will argue that it's an Act of God and therefore not their problem to get passengers to their destination.)

Since the LSL isn't cancelled, yes, they would have to pay current buckets if they wanted to switch to the CL and a Regional.

Amtrak has cancelled the train portion between Boston and Albany, but they are providing alternative transportation. So therefore there would be no allowances made for those wishing to go via another routing.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Since the LSL isn't cancelled

OK, I haven't been reading carefully enough.

But if the LSL were canceled entirely due to severe weather, would Amtrak let passengers rebook on other trains at no additional charge?

 

[AlanB]

Since the LSL isn't cancelled

OK, I haven't been reading carefully enough.

But if the LSL were canceled entirely due to severe weather, would Amtrak let passengers rebook on other trains at no additional charge?

Yes, in that case assuming that space was available, Amtrak would allow them to travel via other methods assuming that there is no major differences. By that I mean for example, I'm not sure that were the SWC down because of snow, that Amtrak would allow someone to ride the Eagle which takes an extra day to reach LA from Chicago, to ride without some change in fare.

One other issue though with the current scenario. I'm not sure that the decision to cancel the train portion of 449 was made early enough to permit Amtrak calling people to give them the option to even consider running for the station to catch a train leaving early enough to reach DC in time for the Capitol's departure. And obviously for those on 448, they were already past Buffalo before the decision was made. These factors may be why Amtrak did decide to bustitute 448/449.